Greek, noun and & adjective

Origin:
See quotation 1977.
A. noun [Ellipt. for the collocations Greek café, Greek caffie, etc., see sense B below.] café. Also Greeks, Greek’s.
1916 L.D. Flemming Fool on Veld (1933) 4A tourist who expects to glide idly in a boat down the Orange River, plucking oranges on the way, will be disappointed. Orange, in this case, merely means the colour of the water. Oranges, however, can be bought from the Greeks.
1948 V.M. Fitzroy Cabbages & Cream 182You can get anything in the way of fruit and vegetables at the Greek’s including those kinds which are out of season locally.
1985 P. Slabolepszy Sat. Night at Palace 66Scaling tins of baked beans from the corner Greek.
B. adjective In the collocations Greek café, Greek caffie, Greek kafee, Greek shop, etc.: café.
c1929 S. Black in S. Gray Three Plays (1984) 66Van K:..A bi-cycle. I left it round at the Greek shop.
1948 V.M. Fitzroy Cabbages & Cream 183The Greek shops in Town may be supplying cauliflowers and peas and brinjals all together, but with you it’s potatoes and pumpkin and nothing else.
1949 J. Mockford Golden Land 238A Greek shop where they sell fruit and sweets and serve tea and meals.
1965 S. Dederick Tickey 21The whole dorp wore a forsaken and desolate air. Even the Greek café was closed.
1968 M. Doyle Impala 122She kept a pile of Superman and Captain Marvel and Batman in her bedroom cupboard. Gideon laughed, but he wasn’t beyond sneaking a quick look in the lavatory when she bought a new one at the Greek shop in Stoneview.
1970 J. McIntosh Stonefish 185He had got hold of a photograph, bought from under the counter at the Greek café near the railway station.
1977 Sunday Times 24 July (Business Times) 5Not a cafe at all, but a neighbourhood convenience store, this type of business is so dominated by the country’s 80000-strong Greek community that it is also widely known as the ‘Greek shop’.
1987 N. Mathiane in Frontline Oct.Nov. 34I have seen a Greek shop swept clean by school kids on an excursion. As they enter the shop, the girls flock to the counter and confuse the one at the counter.
1990 [see kafee].
café. Also Greeks, Greek’s.
In the collocations Greek café, Greek caffie, Greek kafee, Greek shop, etc.: café.
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19161987